Due to the nature of their work and personalities, many professionals prefer to do things on their own, in their own way. A firm’s best talents may not take too kindly to being told what to do and when to do it. They may resist being managed , and be unenthusiastic about working in a team. Whatever category they fall into—highly qualified, creatives, knowledge workers, or conceptualists—they usually prefer to rely heavily on their own expertise to get a job done.
In Leading the Professionals, Geoff Smith gives much-needed advice to those who have to lead teams of such individuals, whether in law and accountancy firms, advertising agencies, design businesses, TV production units, architectural practices, R&D, education or public sector organizations. He shows how to meet the challenge of fostering and maintaining a well-coordinated high performance team capable of achieving clear business objectives. They key, he says, is in a light touch—encouraging and supporting rather than directing and controlling.
Drawing on first-hand interviews with high-profile leaders and team members, this highly readable and practical book is full of questionnaires, exercises, direct quotes, cases and revealing examples. Leading he Professionals will prove invaluable in helping both existing and aspiring leaders to motivate and inspire everyone in the team.
About the Author
Geoff Smith specializes in designing, managing and implementing programmes for leaders. He works with professional service firms, helping to imrove performance by coaching individuals, facilitating strategy discussions and running leadership workshops. He has worked for Dexion, the Ford Motor Company and the Thomson Corporation, and was Director of Studies at Ashridge Business School where he developed their tailor-made course in business. With an honours degree in Economics, Geoff is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) and he is the Principal Partner of Management Training and Development. He is also the author of Personnel Administration and Industrial Relations (published by Longman).